On this day ( 5th of March ) in 1940, Joseph Stalin signed the order of execution for ~22,000 Polish officers who were POWs in Soviet Russia. In what is now known as the Katyn Massacre, the Polish men - and one Polish woman - were executed in spring 1940. They were buried in mass graves, which would be discovered in 1943 by the German army.
For decades, the Soviet Union denied its responsibility (even trying to get the Germans charged for the massacre at the post-war Nuremberg Trials).
In 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev finally admitted that it had, in fact, been the NKVD (the Soviet Secret Police) who had executed the Polish POWs, who comprised a large portion of Poland's intelligentsia: According to the Polish conscription system, all with a university degree became military reserve officers once the war began.
To this day, Russia has not released all its documents related to the Katyn Massacre.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pocHgwUX5Ck
Photo: Dated March 5, 1940, this document shows Stalin's signature on a proposal by Soviet Chief of Secret Police Lavrentin Beria to murder all Polish officers who were POWs in the Soviet Union.
For decades, the Soviet Union denied its responsibility (even trying to get the Germans charged for the massacre at the post-war Nuremberg Trials).
In 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev finally admitted that it had, in fact, been the NKVD (the Soviet Secret Police) who had executed the Polish POWs, who comprised a large portion of Poland's intelligentsia: According to the Polish conscription system, all with a university degree became military reserve officers once the war began.
To this day, Russia has not released all its documents related to the Katyn Massacre.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pocHgwUX5Ck
Photo: Dated March 5, 1940, this document shows Stalin's signature on a proposal by Soviet Chief of Secret Police Lavrentin Beria to murder all Polish officers who were POWs in the Soviet Union.
